HMS Victory masts removed for conservation work

The masts of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory have been successfully removed in a two-night operation as part of a conservation project.

It is part of a 10-year, £42m scheme called The Big Repair, 100 years after the ship arrived in Portsmouth's dry dock in Hampshire.

The rear mast, foremast and the bowsprit were removed using a 750-tonne crane. The main mast was removed in 2021.

The next phase will see the ship enclosed in scaffolding for the conservation project, ending in 2033.

On the final night, HMS Victory deputy project director Patrizia Pierazzo said: "The removal of the mizzen mast and bowsprit was a great success and lessons learnt from the foremast removal earlier in the week really helped the team.

"This was a precise operation that required input from a wide range of specialists, and we're very pleased with the outcome."

Executive director of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Andrew Baines, said it was the first time Victory was without all its masts since the early 1890s.

He said the work was carried out overnight so the team could "work safely and without interruption for several hours at a time".

On 12 January 1922, the celebrated survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar was towed from its berth in Portsmouth Harbour and secured in the dry dock.

It was opened as a museum to the public by King George V in 1928 and has since welcomed more than 30 million visitors.

HMS Victory and the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard site will remain open to visitors as usual during the works.